Press Releases
06/24/2021
Boating Incident Has Positive Outcome Thanks to Emergency Preparedness and Actions by Vessel Owner, ‘Good Samaritan’ Vessels in Area
Life Jackets, Use and Monitoring of Marine Radio Distress Frequency, Saved Five Men’s Lives
(HARTFORD)—The lives of five men on a fishing trip on Long Island Sound were saved earlier this week after their boat sank, thanks to the preparedness and quick actions taken by the owner of the sinking vessel, and the Good Samaritan vessels in the area who came to their aid.
The men, whose ages ranged from 72-80, were fishing off of Six-Mile Reef off the coast of Westbrook/Clinton late Monday afternoon, June 21. At a certain point, one of the men noticed there was water in the back of the boat. Upon investigation, the vessel owner found that water was coming out of the back storage area, and the whole area, including the boat’s batteries, was flooded with water. Unable to get the motor started, and with the vessel continuing to take on water, the vessel owner told the members of his party to put on the lifejackets he had on board, and got on his radio and sent out a distress call.
Thankfully, there were two other boats on the water that afternoon. Evan Kamoen, 18, of Killingworth, was out fishing with two friends, when he heard the distress call come across his marine radio, which he keeps on and tuned to Channel 16, the international distress frequency, whenever he’s on the water. Kamoen looked around, saw the boat, and drove toward it. Upon arrival, he saw the boat was leaning, and soon after, it flipped over. The five men were in the water, two of them clinging to the boat, two floating nearby, and one who was trapped beneath the boat, but who was eventually able to get out from under it.
Kamoen and his crew turned off their motor, and carefully scooped four of the five men out of the water. They didn’t have enough room for the fifth person, but waited until another Good Samaritan vessel that was also fishing nearby came over to pull the fifth person out of the water.
Both boats made it back to shore safely, staying in contact with the U.S. Coast Guard, DEEP, Westbrook and Old Saybrook Fire and Police, and Clinton Fire, Police, and EMS, all of whom deployed resources to the scene to meet and support the Good Samaritan vessels. The five men were largely unscathed, with only some minor injuries.
DEEP Environmental Conservation Officer Alexandra Blackwell said the actions of everyone involved, from the owner of the sinking vessel, to the response of the Good Samaritan vessels, led to the positive outcome. For the owner of the sinking vessel—having enough life jackets on board for every member of the party, ordering them to be worn once he realized they were in trouble, and getting the distress call out and providing important information such as location, the nature of the emergency, and the number of people in the party—was critical. For the Good Samaritans, it was monitoring Channel 16 and responding to the distress call.
“Lifejackets, the use of Marine VHF Radios, and the monitoring of Channel 16 by the Good Samaritan rescue vessels saved the lives of these five men,” Off. Blackwell said.
The vessel owner, who requested that his name not be included in this release, wanted to keep the shine on the Good Samaritans who came to the aid of he and his friends.
“They’re the real heroes, they deserve the attention,” he said.
He went on to note the importance of safety, and making sure you have the proper safety equipment onboard before getting out on the water. He said that before every voyage, he does a check to make sure he has all of his safety equipment.
“Especially the life jackets,” he said. “You have to make sure you know where they are.”
The vessel owner said that for whatever reason, things worked out, and they were fortunate that they did.
“We were just lucky, lucky we got the call out, lucky we got the life jackets on, lucky they came immediately over,” he said.
For the Good Samaritan vessel operators, it was simply the right thing to do to answer the call.
“I was just doing what I’d hope someone else would do for me,” said Jeff Nosal, who, along with his brother Jason, operated the second Good Samaritan vessel.
Kamoen said he learned a lot from the experience, and will apply what he learned to any similar situations he might come across on the water in the future. He said that having the proper safety equipment undoubtedly kept a bad situation from becoming a tragedy, noting that 3 of the 5 men rescued shared with him that they were unable to swim.
“It could’ve gone worse,” he said. “It really opens your eyes to how quickly things can happen.”
For more information on boating, and boat safety, visit the Boating and Paddling section of the DEEP website.
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